5 people nabbed after allegedly buying and selling Worldcoin accounts belonging to others

SINGAPORE - Four men and one woman were arrested for their suspected involvement in providing payment services without licence, the police said in a statement on Aug 7.

They had allegedly offered the service of buying and selling Worldcoin accounts or tokens belonging to others.

Worldcoin is a biometric cryptocurrency project co-founded by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.

Launched in 2023, the project involves getting people to stare into a silver orb, Worldcoin’s proprietary imaging device, and have their irises scanned in exchange for a digital ID and free tokens.

These orbs are found in many cities around the world, including Singapore.

The Straits Times in July reported that

people had been queuing at the basement of GR.iD shopping mall in Selegie Road

to have their eyes scanned as part of the registration process for their Worldcoin accounts.

Many migrant workers were spotted in the queue on the six days that ST visited GR.iD mall in May and June. They appeared to be following the instructions of some “agents”, who declined to comment when approached by ST. They did not appear to be directly affiliated to Worldcoin.

A migrant worker told ST that each of them was paid about $45 in cash, in exchange for handing over control of their newly created Worldcoin accounts and tokens to the agents.

The police said on Aug 7 that they received reports and started investigations into five people, aged between 27 and 52.

Preliminary investigations showed that three of the men had allegedly recruited people to sign up for Worldcoin accounts on behalf of third parties.

The men then gave cash to the people and took over their accounts and tokens.

Some accounts and tokens were handed over to the fourth man and woman, who were believed to be involved in buying and facilitating the receipt and delivery of the accounts and tokens, said police.

During the police operation, more than 200 mobile phones and other items were seized as evidence.

Investigations are ongoing. Those found guilty of carrying on a business to provide any type of payment service without a licence can be fined up to $125,000, jailed for up to three years, or both.

The police said they will take action against individuals or entities involved in providing payment services without a licence to minimise the risk of money laundering, terrorism financing or other criminal activity.

Members of the public are warned against giving away or selling their Worldcoin accounts, the police said.

“Allowing other persons to use or access your accounts may result in them misusing the accounts for criminal activity, and you will be held liable,” said police.

“You should always reject such requests, whether for your Worldcoin or other banking or payment accounts.”